Breast augmentation is the world’s most popular cosmetic procedure, and needless to say, most surgeons have gotten extremely good at them. These days a whopping 98% of breast implant patients report that the results met or exceeded their expectations. Despite this, one of the biggest sticking points has always been the question of breast size. How big is too big?
This is an important question because about 1 in 10 women who undergo breast augmentation end up wishing that they went bigger, while about 1 in 50 feel like they went too big. Size is the hardest thing to get exactly right, and it’s always better to be more cautious and go for too small instead of too big. It’s easier to do further augmentation than reduction, and too-small breasts don’t have the risk of back pain or other health issues the way too-big breasts do.
So how big is too big? In short, in all depends. Your height, build, shoulder width, natural breast size, lifestyle, skin elasticity, normal posture, desired results and much, much more all have to be taken into account. There are no one-size-fits-all implants out there, so the only way to get a really good idea of your ideal breast implant size is to speak with an experienced cosmetic surgeon who can give you personalised advice. But even then, it still pays to be careful.
How Not to Get Breast Implants
Consider the case of one of our patients, a 32 year old woman named Carol. Like many others, she came to see us because her implants were just too big. They were inconvenient, uncomfortable, painful at times and seemed to get in the way of everything. She had wanted bigger breasts, but the mammoth implants she’d been fitted with felt like, in her words, a cautionary “be careful what you wish for” story. During Carol’s consultation session, it became apparent that her circumstances were far from unique.
Choosing the Wrong Location
Firstly, she’d gone for a budget overseas cosmetic surgery holiday in Thailand, figuring she had a good idea of what she wanted and could count on the surgeon’s expertise for guidance. Instead, he simply advised her that bigger was better, and pushed her towards the larger (and slightly more expensive) options.
Getting the Wrong Information
From there, her only decision-making assistance was a set of ‘sizing bras’. These are padded bras which are meant to simulate breast implants, but just can’t accurately capture the shape, size and feel of actual implants. These sizing bras are great for getting a quick idea of how your new silhouette will look, or how larger breasts might affect clothing options, but at the end of the day it’s just a padded bra, not a miracle device. As it turned out, Carol’s breast augmentation results were nothing like the sizing bra led her to believe and she was understandably wary of this when seeing us. Fortunately, we prefer to use the Vectra 3D imaging system instead, for these exact reasons. After her experience with sizing bras, Carol was relieved to hear that there was a better way.
Picking the Wrong Surgeon
However, the biggest difference according to Carol, was how informative we were. “The surgeon in Thailand was a shopkeeper, not a doctor.” She said. “He was selling breasts and I was just another customer. I should have walked away the moment I realised, but thought I’d come too far to quit.” By contrast, our main focus has always been making sure every single patient is very well informed and knows absolutely everything they need. Usually, the best way to do this is with individual surgical consultation sessions. This is what lets us give properly tailored advice, rather than general information. Because everyone’s bodies are so different, this is a really crucial part of being a cosmetic surgeon. And naturally, it’s also the key to answering the age old question of ideal bust size.
Making the Right Breast Enhancement Choices
So how big is too big for breast implants? It all depends. The only real way to get an actual, concrete answer is in a surgical consultation session with a doctor you can trust. If you’re having trouble finding one, just remember that good surgeons will always err on the side of too-small. If they’re insistent that you should go bigger, or don’t try to talk you out of it when you ask for a giant beach ball sized chest, then they probably don’t have your best interests at heart.
As for Carol, it’s now been about 3 months since her breast reduction operation, almost 10 months since her initial breast augmentation, and everything went perfectly. A big congratulations to Carol on her engagement from everyone here at ACC, and a big thank you for letting us tell your story.
Wondering what breast augmentation size is right for you? Call ACC at 1300 559 848 or reach us online to get a surgical consultation session.
